


On the Subject of Time

by lionessvalenti



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Casual Sex, Denial of Feelings, King Loki (Marvel), M/M, Top Loki (Marvel)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-26
Updated: 2018-11-26
Packaged: 2019-08-29 13:12:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16744642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lionessvalenti/pseuds/lionessvalenti
Summary: When staying on Earth is too dangerous, Bucky goes into hiding on Asgard. He expects to wait out his time in boredom, until he meets the king.





	On the Subject of Time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aurilly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aurilly/gifts).



It began when Bucky went to Asgard.

The entire trip was a blur of rainbow and starlight, and in a matter of seconds Bucky and Steve were no longer on Earth but on a completely different planet.

"You've done this before, right?" Bucky had asked in the last few seconds before the light took them away.

"Not so much, no," Steve had replied. It didn't give Bucky any reassurance, but the trip itself was fine. No nasty side effects, no throwing up or passing out. Just a little dizziness that passed quickly enough.

Bucky looked up at the great golden room he and Steve were now in, and out further to something out of a storybook. The golden castle in the distance, the long, shiny road made from crystal. It was almost too beautiful to be real.

"Captain!"

Somehow, in his awe, Bucky had missed the largest man he'd ever seen approaching. He felt his entire body straighten, and maybe even puff up a bit, as if he could make himself seem larger in comparison.

Steve grinned and embraced the man. "Thor. It's good to see you."

"Likewise, my friend." The man, Thor, was actually not much taller or broader than Steve, but everything about his presence seemed so overwhelmingly large. He took up all the space in the cavernous room, with his red cloak and his long hair, and decidedly good cheer.

Steve dropped a hand on Bucky's shoulder. "This is Bucky. He'll be staying with you."

Thor held out his giant hand. "Welcome to Asgard, Bucky. Any friend of Steve's is welcome here."

"Thank you," Bucky replied, trying not to sound intimidated. Thor was part of everything else that seemed a shade too perfect to be real. Perhaps it was like looking at a person who was nice, but ugly. After time, you no longer saw the ugly and only saw the good through it. After spending more time in Asgard, he may find it less unreal. 

And he was going to be spending some time here.

They began their walk toward the golden palace, Steve and Thor chatting amicably and Bucky quietly walking behind them. He wasn't paying them much mind, as the two of them knew each other well and Bucky wasn't part of their closeness. However, something in Thor's demeanor changed, and that caught Bucky's attention.

"Things here may not be as you expect them to be," Thor said. "I have not been spending my time here as such. My interest has been finding and protecting the Infinity Stones. I've yet to find any. That leaves the day to day business of running Asgard in other hands."

Steve's shoulders stiffened and his voice got tight as he asked, "And what other hands might those be?"

"Well..." Thor hesitated, and then motioned ahead of them. In the distance stood a large monument, well over twenty feet high, made of pure gold. It was a man holding his hands out in a welcoming gesture, and on his head he wore a helmet with large horns protruding from it.

"He's _king_?" Steve choked out. He placed a hand on Thor's chest as to stop him from going any further. "How the hell is he king?"

"A lack of better options?" Thor asked, the pitch of his voice rising, as if he knew that wouldn't fly with Steve. "Honestly, other than a few tacky statues, he's good at being king. Far superior than I would be. And it keeps him busy and quiet. This is all he wanted, and now that he has it. Asgard is prospering. He's quite up to the task."

Steve gaped. "Except for all the murder."

"War is... nasty."

"He started the war!"

Thor sighed. "It may be difficult to understand, but time works differently here. Loki has atoned. And Heimdall is here to keep an eye out for any... undue mischief."

Steve took a long slow breath, and Bucky could practically see him counting backwards from ten. He only made it to about five when he asked, "Will Bucky be safe here?"

"I wouldn't have offered if he wouldn't be," Thor replied.

"And I can take care of myself," Bucky said, and the other two turned to him like they forgot he was even there. "Better here than on Earth."

Steve made an apologetic face. "I know you can, but you don't know Loki."

"Ideally, the two will never meet," Thor said quickly. "Loki said this was my business, and while Barnes was welcome to stay in the palace, he didn't need to see him. He doesn't even wish to have an audience to announce his arrival."

"What he means is, he didn't want to have an audience with me," Steve grumbled, but he sounded almost pleased by the notion.

Thor laughed, a booming sound that could probably shake glass right out of the window. "I imagine not. Come, both of you."

Despite the size of the palace, Thor's tour of it was relatively short. He took them through the baths ("Communal," Thor said, "I hope that won't be a problem."), to the kitchen ("Breakfast will be served in the morning, but you'll have to come down here for anything else"), and then finally to Bucky's room.

"Holy..." Bucky mumbled as he stepped into the room.

"They're modest accommodations," Thor said, sounding almost apologetic. "Since you're my guest, and not Loki's. I hope it will suit you."

The room was bigger than any apartment Bucky had ever lived in. The bed was massive and looked impossibly soft, with dark blue blankets sewn with silver thread. The curtains were made of a gauzy fabric, also in blue, giving the room a cool glow. There was a gleaming wooden table with intricate carvings up each of the legs, a large wardrobe with silver handles, and on the other side of the room was a huge fireplace made of white stone. 

"This is modest?" Steve asked. He was nearly as in awe of the room as Bucky.

"It'll suit me just fine," Bucky said. He grinned over at Steve. "Maybe I won't come home."

Steve laughed and placed a hand on Bucky's shoulder. "Never going to happen. The second it's safe, I'm coming back for you." 

"Good," Bucky replied. He pulled Steve into a quick embrace. "Thank you for..."

Steve clapped his back, the same he'd done the night before Bucky shipped out to war, and they stepped back. "Don't do anything stupid."

Bucky almost laughed. "I won't if you won't. And that doesn't say much for either of us."

"I'll be good."

"Yeah, you will." Of that, Bucky had no doubt. He said his farewell to Thor, and with little ceremony, the two of them left Bucky alone in his very large chamber.

* * *

The first few days, Bucky walked the grounds. It was beautiful. Everything seemed to have a glow around it. Even the rain, when it stormed of an evening, came down in magical sheets, beating against the glass of his window in the night.

Despite the beauty, the experience was... dull. When he came across people, they stared at him. He wore his regular clothes from Earth, mostly jeans and t-shirts, while they wore tunics and long dresses -- even some of the men. No one spoke to him, so he didn't say anything either.

He ate breakfast in his room, and at night, he went to the kitchen and got something for dinner from the cook himself. It was, he presumed, scraps and pieces from whatever the king was eating, but he didn't mind. Everything tasted delicious. It was an array of meats covered in thick gravy and roasted vegetables in heavy glazes unlike anything he'd ever eaten.

Other than tracing his steps to the garden and again to the kitchen, the palace was a maze. Bucky imagined that unless you grew up in these halls, it was meant to disorient. And somehow in the confusion, he had lost his way to the baths.

After three days, he couldn't stand the smell of himself any longer, and went on the hunt. He could have asked someone, he supposed. The girl who brought him his breakfast (and presumably took away the tray later) or any of the people whose paths he crossed, but their silence made him uncomfortable in a way silence rarely did. It didn't seem like he was welcomed to ask any questions.

Bucky set out alone late one evening when he might not find anyone to stare at him without a word. From Thor's tour, he knew the baths were below ground at the hot spring, but the halls down there were, if possible, more confusing than the ones upstairs.

With a sigh of relief, Bucky finally found it. The room was large and ornate, but it didn't look familiar. Despite the size, he was sure the room he'd seen before was even larger. He shrugged. There wasn't any sense worrying about it when he was filthy.

He stripped out of his clothes and glanced over an array of different colored soaps. None of them seemed to be regular soap-scented, so he picked up a bar at random. It was a light green and nearly translucent. He brought it to his nose and inhaled. It smelled of fresh grass and herbs and reminded him almost of Wakanda and waking up in the morning when the dew still clung to the grass. This would do fine.

There were four steps leading down into the bath, cut from brown stone that sparkled beneath the clear water. He shouldn't have been so shocked when he placed his feet onto the first step that it was hot, but he'd been bathing in a cold lake for months. The relief of it spread through him. He actually moaned as he took another step, the water up to his calves.

The door opened and a man in a delicate looking grey robe stared at him, properly startled that Bucky was there, and then his expression turned annoyed. "What are you doing in here? Is that my soap?"

The water around his legs may have been hot, but Bucky's stomach turned to ice. Had he missed something? "I thought the baths were communal."

"Not in the private bath for the king."

"Shit." He backed up a step. "I got lost, and I needed to -- I'll go."

The king -- Loki -- raised a hand to stop him. "You're Thor's guest, yes? From Midgard?"

Bucky swallowed. This was the first person to speak to him in days and it was the one person who had specifically wanted to avoid him. "Yes."

Loki seemed to consider him. "Stay," he said finally. "You're already naked."

"Oh. Yeah. Thanks." Should he address a king differently? Probably. But there wasn't taking any of it back. Bucky sank into the hot water, the soap still in his hand. 

Slowly, Loki descended into the water, not taking off his robe. It went from pale grey to a dark charcoal as the water soaked into the thin fabric. It billowed out around with every step Loki took. When he reached about waist high, he opened the robe and tossed it aside. 

If he did all of that for modesty or for the theatrics, Bucky had no idea, but like everything else in Asgard, it was beautiful. He forced a hard swallow and tried to look away from Loki, but his eyes were drawn back to him. 

Loki's body was thin, but he was wiry, lithe muscles shifting beneath his pale skin. His hair was both darker and longer than Bucky's, and was shiny, even before he ducked beneath the surface. When he came back up, the water rolled off of him like he was made of wax.

Fuck.

Bucky tried to wash himself quickly. The whole display was getting to him. It felt like the first time he'd been properly turned on in years and there was nothing he could do about it. He didn't have a gorgeous modesty robe, so there was no way to get out of the bath without Loki seeing how much the spectacle had affected him. There wasn't any getting around that.

"What was your name again?"

Bucky started. He hadn't actually expecting Loki to speak to him. "It's Bucky." 

Should he call him _sire_ or _your highness_? It sounded all pretty silly, but he was living in a fantasy world now. How the hell was he supposed to know?

Loki turned away, pulling his long hair over his shoulder. "Wash my back, will you?"

"Is that an order?" Bucky asked. He'd meant it as a joke, though it was a poor one, but it came out far sharper than he'd intended. If he'd wanted to be told what to do, he would have stayed on Earth and surrendered himself instead of going into hiding.

"You're not my subject. I can't order you to do anything. I hoped you'd like to return the favor of using my soap."

Bucky cracked a smile. He pushed off the wall and moved toward Loki. His breathing picked up as he approached the king. He lifted the soap and pressed it to Loki's back, his pinky finger dragging against the skin as he worked the bar over Loki's shoulders.

It was strange, being this close to someone. Human contact for so long had been nothing but a fight. To touch another person and it be calm and arousing, it was so foreign that doing it now caused a well of emotion to build deep in Bucky's chest.

He set the soap on the ledge of the bath and brought a wet hand up to rinse it away. Loki's skin was soft and cool to the touch, despite the heat from the water. Bucky inhaled a shuddering breath as he ran his fingers down the length of Loki's shoulder blade. Loki tilted back slightly, his leg brushing against Bucky's erect cock.

Bucky froze. He knew things were different on Earth, but he had nothing to gauge Asgard by.

"Does this arouse you?" Loki asked. His voice was low and thick, perhaps from the steam.

There wasn't any sense in lying. "Yes."

"Do you lie with men often?"

Bucky found himself floating closer to Loki instead of further away. His mouth was so close to the line of Loki's shoulder, he had to have felt the breath against him. "I haven't been with anyone in a long time."

Loki turned around. Up close, Bucky could see every detail of his blue eyes. He wondered if Loki was going to kiss him. Even with this bizarre sudden intimacy, that seemed like such a far away possibility. Bucky didn't know the last time he'd been kissed.

"Join me for dinner tomorrow," Loki said, which wasn't a kiss, but was almost as good. "Tell your girl to find you something appropriate to wear."

"My girl?" Bucky echoed.

Loki blinked at him. "No one brings you breakfast in the morning?"

"Oh. Yeah. She, uh, hasn't talked to me. No one had, actually."

At that, Loki laughed. "You're from another realm. It's... cultural. It's seen as rude to speak to someone from another realm without first being spoken to."

Bucky gaped at him. "If I'd spoken first, they would have said something?"

"Yes."

"You spoke to me first."

Loki smiled. "You surprised me. Also, I'm king. I can be afforded liberties." He moved away from Bucky and walked up the stairs. 

Bucky tried not to stare, but he didn't try very hard. Loki from the waist down was just as gorgeous as Loki from the waist up. He was hard, and he made no motion to cover himself until he grabbed his robe off the floor. The bottom of it was still wet, though it wasn't dripping, nor did it drag water behind it as Loki left the room.

Letting out a breath, Bucky looked around the room, at the no one who was with him. He'd gone from alone to dinner with the king. How did that even happen?

* * *

The next morning, Bucky waited for the girl to arrive with his breakfast. She set the tray down on the table and turned to leave.

"Uh, wait," Bucky said, afraid she'd slip out the door before he would actually say something. If she left, he had no idea when she'd come back. He was pretty sure wearing his regular clothes wouldn't count as "appropriate" to Loki.

She turned back to him and with a smile said, "Yes, sir?"

"I'm having dinner with the king tonight. I was told you could get me something to wear?"

"Of course, sir."

After breakfast, Bucky walked more of the palace grounds. He wondered was beyond the walls into the city. No one had told him he had to stay within the palace walls. But he had no currency and he was guest.

And up until the incident in the bath last night, he'd been utterly bored. No one to talk to and nothing to do. Now, he could fill his time with anxiously waiting for dinner and thinking about the brief glimpse he got of Loki's body.

It would have been so easy to push Loki against those stairs, his hard cock breaking the surface, and taking it into his mouth. Bucky wasn't startled by the fantasy, at least not the subject matter, but the ferocity of it, that took him by surprise.

He tried to let it go. There wasn't a reasonable place in the garden to jerk off, and he wasn't one for exhibitionism anyway. He couldn't get turned on here. It was a long walk back to his quarters.

When he returned to his room hours later, there was a pair of pants and a green tunic with a belt laid out on his bed. At the end of the bed sat a pair of tall boots. Even though dinner was still half a day away, he traded out his clothes for the Asgardian garb.

The pants were impossibly tight. They clung to every inch of his skin and seemed to outline his cock and balls with perfect detail. He might as well have still been naked. The tunic, thankfully, covered his privates.

Despite the tightness of the pants, he could move in this ensemble. He could fight if he needed to. There shouldn't be any reason to, but he liked knowing he could if had to.

When it was time, Bucky pulled on his boots (a perfect fit, and how anyone here knew his shoe size, he had no idea) and went downstairs. Emboldened by the interaction with the girl in his room this morning, Bucky asked directions to the dining hall.

The hall was grand, everything made from gold and lined with gold, except for the huge table. It was made from wood, and though it appeared to have been kept in excellent condition, it was obviously very old.

Though the table was large, and there was a feast's worth of food, there were only two place settings: one at the end of the table, the chair there more ornate than the others, and a setting to the right. 

Bucky took the seat that obviously meant for him, and wait until Loki entered from another door. He was dressed, actually quite like Bucky, except his clothes were made from leather and were mostly in black. He smiled faintly when he saw Bucky.

"You know nothing of royalty, do you?" Loki asked as he sat down.

"Was I supposed to stand when you came in?" Bucky asked.

"You were."

"Shit."

Loki's smile seemed to be containing a laugh. "You're also not supposed to swear."

"Well, that seems like something that isn't going to happen." Bucky looked down the length of the long table. "Just the two of us?"

The smile vanished. "Yes."

"Is this a date?" The words slipped out of Bucky's mouth before he even thought about them.

"A date?" Loki asked. "You mean a romantic overture?"

"Yeah, that."

Loki shook his head. "Not at all. You're human. It would be wildly inappropriate. That's one of the reasons my brother stepped down from the position of king: his love of Midgard. He couldn't reconcile it with his duties at home."

"Good to know," Bucky muttered. He didn't really think it was a date, but the answer was almost insulting. He reached for a flagon and poured himself a glass of wine. It was nearly black it was so deeply red, and the smell nearly made him drunk alone.

"However, last night you did say..." Loki trailed off and took a slow breath, collecting his thoughts. "If you wanted to join me in my chamber after dinner, I would.... be amenable."

Bucky took a sip of the wine. It was as strong as he expected, and he tried to keep from pulling a face as he swallowed. He licked a drop away from his lower lip. "I'd also be amenable."

Loki smiled, a small, self-satisfied sort of thing. "Good."

They ate in silence. Bucky was surprised that they were meant to serve themselves. Loki made no mention of it, so maybe this was another cultural thing. He'd imagined a hundred servants surrounding the king as he ate. He'd gone to an upper class party once with a girl who was way out of his league. He'd been so obviously out of place, and was put off by people refilling their water glasses and bringing out new courses. This was better.

"You don't seem afraid of me," Loki said after some time.

"I'm not," Bucky replied. He thought back to Steve's comment about the murdering, and how anxious Thor had been to tell them Loki was the king. Well, Loki wasn't the only one who had killed, so Bucky wasn't going to hold it against him. "Should I be?"

"No," Loki said. "Not at all."

There was still so much food left when they were both finished, but Bucky had no time to think about eating leftovers from the kitchen like he had the night before.

Loki rose and motioned for Bucky to follow him. Bucky did, feeling a bit heavy from the food, and light-headed from the wine. He only had a glass, but apparently it didn't agree with his human makeup.

Bucky had thought it ridiculous when Thor had seemed apologetic for the so-called modest accommodations when he arrived. He didn't understand how a room so spectacular could be seen as modest until he stepped into Loki's chambers.

The room was enormous. The fireplace was large enough to stand in, and the bed seemed to be three times the size of the one Bucky had been comfortably sleeping in. Everything was made of gold, trimmed with gold, or lined with gold. And it wasn't even the only room, a door led into another space.

"My office," Loki said, when he saw Bucky peering in that direction. "Since we have no illusion over what's happening here, should we..."

"Yes," Bucky replied, and dropped to his knees in front of Loki. The rug beneath him was plush and bore all his weight without him cracking his kneecaps.

"Oh," Loki breathed. "I didn't mean--"

Bucky reached up and fiddled with the front of Loki's trousers. There was some sort of button or hook, he wasn't sure how to get it open. "Did you want to do something else?"

"No, this is -- it's fine." Loki reached down and unbuckled his trousers. He pulled out his cock, only partially hard, and he held at at the base. "This is fine."

Since Loki was holding it so considerately for him, Bucky leaned forward and took the dick in his mouth. It hardened as it crossed the threshold of his lips, growing as he caressed the underside of it with his tongue.

Loki gripped Bucky's hair. He didn't pull, he just took a handful of it and held.

Bucky moaned. It had been a long time, but it was like riding a bike. It was easy to tease the slit with the tip of his tongue and then swallow down the length. When he pushed the head into the soft of his cheek, Loki gripped him tighter and let out a soft noise. It was desperate and needy and everything that Loki had presented himself thus far not to be.

Bucky loved it. He didn't know he could reduce a king to desperation, and yet, there they were.

Loki pulled at Bucky's hair when he came. His come tasted heady like the wine they'd had a dinner, and as intoxicating. He swallowed as much of it as he could, and when he pulled off Loki's cock, he wiped the rest away from his chin before it dripped onto the carpet.

He looked up and Loki's head was bowed, and his eyes were closed, almost as if he were in prayer. But the rise and fall of his chest, heavy with his completion, noted his mind was somewhere else. After a moment, his eyes opened and he released Bucky's hair, his thumb running over the pads of his fingers, like he was searching for something there.

"Strip," Loki said, voice raspy. "And get on the bed."

"Is that an order?" Bucky asked, as he pulled open the belt across his waist. Loki smirked down at him.

"In my chamber, it is."

Bucky licked his lower lip, his tongue running across the inside of it, starting at the left corner and dragging to the right side. He saw the way Loki shuddered at the motion. Yes, Loki the king could give orders, but Bucky had a feeling he knew who was actually in charge.

He did as he was told, standing to pull off his boots and peel off his skin tight pants. He climbed onto the bed and spread out across the golden duvet. Above him was a white, silk canopy, with golden lights streaming through, muted softly by the fabric. It was lovely.

Loki sat on the edge of the bed. He was already hard again -- or maybe he hadn't gone soft at all. Was that a trick of Asgard? Of Loki? He gazed across the expanse of Bucky's body: from his cock, hard and flushed red with desire, over his abdomen, and then at the black vibranium arm and the scars that surrounded it.

"You're very attractive," Loki said, touching a finger to Bucky's nipple.

"For a human, huh?" Bucky retorted, but it was all he could do to keep himself composed. It might be so easy to come as quickly as Loki had. He's gone for years untouched as the Asset. Since then, the only people who had touched him had been the medical staff in Wakanda, Shuri occasionally laying a comforting hand on his arm, and Steve's tight embrace. Those were kind and good, but platonic, and some of them little more than clinical.

No one touched him as if he were someone to be desired.

Loki smiled. "Yes, for a human." He pinched Bucky's nipple between his fingers. "I want to have you. Against that headboard."

Bucky craned his neck to look at the huge, ornate, carved headboard that was behind him. If that was Loki's fantasy when he was all alone in this ridiculously large bed, then Bucky could do that for him. 

He turned over so he could sit up on his knees. He turned toward the headboard, but kept Loki in his line of sight. "Do you have any slick?"

Loki stared at him as if he'd spoken a completely different language.

"Lubricant," Bucky tried again. He thought about the weirdly anachronistic ways of Asgard. "Oil or something?"

"Yes," Loki replied. He reached over to the bedside table and picked up a small glass pitcher. "It hasn't been warmed, but it will do."

Bucky dipped a finger in the pitcher and tested the consistency of the oil against his thumb. Oh yeah, it was do fine. He remembered fucking with Vaseline before the war, and while it worked well enough, it wasn't really meant for that.

He gave Loki a nod and then pushed some of the pillows aside so he could get closer to the headboard. He wasn't looking and started slightly when he felt Loki come up behind him. Loki rested a slick hand at the small of Bucky's back, and then slid it lower, into the slit of his ass. He groaned when Loki pressed a finger against his asshole.

"Feels good?" Loki asked, sounding amused.

Bucky reached up and grabbed the top of the headboard, pressing his face against the cool stone. This close, he could see that it was made from some kind of quartz, with veins of white running through it. "Just fuck me, please."

Loki made a haughty little noise that did more for Bucky than he was willing to admit. A moment later, his oiled cock pressed into Bucky's hole.

This time, Bucky was the one made the noise of desperation. He pushed back against Loki, but Loki took his time, hands at Bucky's hips, fitting them together slowly until their bodies were pressed flush against one another.

Bucky clung helplessly to the headboard. His body twisted every time Loki rocked into him, taking him for a torturous ride. "Faster," he mumbled. "Harder." 

Loki slid a hand up the side of Bucky's rib cage, fingers curling around to his chest as he began to work into Bucky, as requested, harder. The motion filled up every single of one of Bucky's senses. All he could hear was the sound of skin slapping against skin, and he could smell the grassy soap he'd washed Loki with the night before. He could taste the sex in the air, and even with his eyes closed tightly, he could see how fucking gorgeous they looked together.

"Fuck!" Bucky cried out as Loki thrust into him. Tears well up in his eyes from the pressure, which wasn't actually _painful_ , but was uncomfortable, and also from the release of sex. From having Loki's hands all over him. From giving something of himself of his own free will.

Loki rested his forehead down on Bucky's shoulder. He was panting, his breath hot against Bucky's skin, and then his mouth pressed to the shoulder in a kiss. Then another, this one nearer the to base of Bucky's neck. Loki kissed his way up into Bucky's hairline.

Bucky leaned back against Loki as he came, spurting hot against his stomach, smearing onto the headboard as Loki pushed him against it with another hearty thrust. Loki continued to pound into him, using him like a fuck doll as Bucky continued to cling to the headboard.

He sighed as he felt Loki orgasm again, filling him hot and deep with come. Loki pulled out slowly, and almost gathered Bucky up in his arms to lay him out on the bed before falling down next to him gracefully.

They were laying the wrong way, with their heads at the foot of the bed, but it didn't seem to matter. Bucky laughed.

"I needed that."

"As did I," Loki said. He reached over and his fingers touched Bucky's throat, running over the swell of his Adam's apple. "You're a mess."

He wasn't wrong. Bucky was covered in his own come, and he could feel Loki's leaking out of him. He was sticky with sweat, and when he looked over, Loki appeared just as unrumpled as he'd been when they started. Barely even flushed.

"I should go," Bucky said, pulling away. He rolled over to the side of the bed and sat up, legs dangling. He glanced over his shoulder at Loki was still lying there. "This was nice. We should do it again sometime."

"Yes," Loki agreed. "I'll send an invitation for dinner."

Bucky stood up, his legs feeling like jelly, and gathered up his clothes from the floor. "I'll be looking forward to it."

"And Bucky?" Loki sat up, his hair falling over his shoulder in a wave. "You're welcome to continue to use my private bath, if you wish."

"Thank you. I'll do that." He dressed quickly and then made his way out of Loki's chambers. He'd been on Asgard for four days now and already had sex with the king. If he was bored before, he certainly wasn't now.

* * *

Two days passed and on the third, Bucky received an invitation for dinner. He didn't know it then, but it was the beginning of a pattern. Every three days, he had dinner with Loki and sex in his chambers afterward. Typically in the chamber, anyhow. Once, Bucky crawled beneath the table and sucked off Loki while he ate. Loki's ability to act as if nothing was happening below the table was astounding.

Loki had Bucky over every surface in his room. They experimented with different positions, and with their hands, and their mouths. Bucky was always the one getting fucked, but he liked it fine. It took several weeks, but he finally got Loki to blow him, an act with too many teeth, but plenty of determination.

Practice, Bucky thought.

After that, Bucky was sure Loki's mouth had been over nearly every part of his body at one point or another. Places he never would have thought of as sexy were suddenly desperately erotic. One night he thought he might pass out he was so hard as Loki kissed up the back of his calf. 

It was fun.

And Bucky was going to miss it when he had to return.

"How long are you going to be here? Why _are_ you here?" Loki asked one evening, his hand tangled in Bucky's hair. No longer did Bucky leave right after, but he stayed for fine conversation and maybe a glass of wine. The wine still left him woozy, but he was adapting to it.

"You didn't ask?" Bucky looked up at him and laughed. "Did you not want that long of a conversation with Thor?"

"Honestly? No." He tugged at Bucky's hair. It was gentle, almost fond.

Bucky burrowed a bit deeper beneath the heavy duvet. "I was... I used to be -- I was property. For a long time. And we thought the people who used me were mostly destroyed, and they thought I was dead. I got better, didn't think of myself as property anymore. Somehow, I don't know how, what was left of the organization found out I was alive. And they threatened to tear down the land I had sworn to protect. There wasn't a fight and I didn't want to fight. Leaving was better to keep everyone safe. Until they're gone, I can't go home."

Loki's thumb caressed Bucky's scalp. "You certainly are no one's property."

"Mmm, yeah. Thanks." Bucky closed his eyes, feeling sleepy. He'd never actually spent the night in Loki's room, though right now his limbs felt so heavy, it would be easy to drift away. "It's been almost three months now. It probably won't be much longer."

"Three months? Here? Not on Midgard."

Bucky opened his eyes slightly. "Here. Why?"

"Did Thor not explain? Time is... shifting. Constantly. It runs differently here than it does to Midgard. A month here is barely more than a day there."

Bucky was fully awake now. He sat up, Loki's hand dislodging from his hair. "You're telling me it's only been three days on Earth?"

"Or thereabouts," Loki replied warily.

"I was expecting a few months, a year at the most, but a year here isn't even two weeks there. I'm -- I'm going to be here for the rest of my life, aren't I?" Bucky didn't expect an answer, and Loki said nothing. He got out of the bed and groped around for his clothes. "I can't believe this is... I can't control any of it."

Loki shifted toward the edge of the bed. "Bucky, stay."

But Bucky was already pulling on his pants. They were the super tight kind and getting them on was a bear. "I can't!" He stopped to take a breath. "I need some space. I have to wrap my head around this."

He didn't even turn to acknowledge Loki as he left. He went back to his room and sat alone in the darkness, like it would help. It didn't. All it did was make him feel lonelier and further from home than ever. He missed Steve and wished he could send him some sort of message, but from Steve's perspective it would be ridiculous. To Steve, Bucky was barely missed.

Three days later, no invitation for dinner came.

Bucky tried not to be hurt. He was the one who requested space, even if the space he received offered no solace or answers. Maybe Loki was offended that Bucky didn't want to spend the rest of his life on Asgard while the world he knew moved in slow motion. 

Maybe he had hurt Loki's feelings.

One thing Bucky knew was that he couldn't spend another day alone in his room. On the fourth day, he took a hot bath (in the private bath, but there was no sign of Loki), and dressed completely inappropriately in jeans and a sweater. Wandering the palace barefoot, he asked a guard if there was a library.

He was still positive the layout of the palace was meant to confuse, but the directions he'd been given were very good, and after only two wrong turns, he found himself in a what he was told was the library, but it seemed more like a book museum (also known as "a very old library").

The grand room was nearly twenty feet in height, and every wall was covered in bookshelves. There were staircases and ladders that reached to the highest shelves. The ground floor had a couple of large tables, presumably for research (Bucky would find the oversized atlases later, and see the need for the tables), and many large chairs and couches for comfortable reading. The light came in from two large windows, one to the north and the other to south, and a large glass dome at the peak of the room.

In short, it was beautiful. 

On the other hand, Bucky had no idea where to start. There were too many options, and he had no idea how the books were categorized. He pushed up his sleeves and started at the shelf closest to the door.

Most of the books were old, with leather cover and hand-bound, with the titles pressed into them with flaking gold leaf. Some of them were in English, others in Asgardian rune, which he recognized from its presence around the palace, and some in other languages altogether.

It took about an hour to find a book on the subject he was seeking that was both in English and likely to not fall apart in his hands when he opened it. Pleased with his find, Bucky sat on one of the large couches and started to read.

Or he tried to. The English was an older dialect. Not actually Old English, as it was more coherent to Bucky than that, but it was difficult to comprehend full sentences and he found himself reading the same two lines over and over again. 

He was three pages into the book when the library doors opened. He looked up, and Loki walked into the room. He appeared to be as surprised as Bucky to see another person there.

"Did you get lost again?" Loki asked.

"No, I... I wanted to learn more about the realms," Bucky replied. "I'm on another planet and I know absolutely nothing about it. I asked about a library and here I am. What are you doing here?"

Loki's shoulders went back in a motion of offense. "I come here every afternoon to read. You would know that if you'd ever asked."

Bucky didn't have any actual response to the slight. They never asked each other personal questions. The last time they had spoken was as close as they had gotten.

Loki sighed and approached him. "What are you reading?" Without waiting for a response he went to pull the book from Bucky's hands. Bucky held on, forcing Loki to look at him.

"It wasn't personal," Bucky said. "The other day when I left. I'm sorry if it seemed like it was... I've missed out on a lot of my own life already. I don't want to lose anymore."

His features softening, Loki pulled the book gently from Bucky's grasp. He studied the cover and a small smile turned up at the corners of his mouth. "How does reading this one fare?"

"Slowly," Bucky replied. "I didn't know where to start. There's a lot of books in here."

"I'll find one better suited to your rudimentary understanding of the Nine Realms," Loki said, amazingly not making it sound like an insult, but simply a statement of fact. He knew exactly where the book belonged and replaced it on the shelf. He moved to the other side of the room and retrieved a larger book, clearly knowing exactly which book he wanted. He set it in Bucky's lap, where it nearly held him down like a weight.

 _The Nine Realms_ , read the simple title on the plain brown cover. 

"Thank you," Bucky said quietly.

Loki nodded. "If I could offer you some advice. It may be prudent to not think of this as missing out on your life, but as a part of it. It may not be time spent with the people you want it to be--"

"Loki."

"But you are having experiences I can definitively say no Midgardian has ever had."

Bucky laughed. "I missed you yesterday. I half thought about going down there and having dinner with you anyway."

"I half expected you to."

Bucky sat back a little on the couch and grinned slyly. "We could catch up."

Loki's eyes widened. His shock at the suggestion wasn't feigned. "This is my mother's library."

"Is she here?"

He sat down on the couch next to Bucky, and no emotion read on his face. "She died."

Bucky shifted the book from his lap to his side, so there was nothing keeping him from reaching out to Loki if he felt like it was something he needed to do. As it was, he kept his hands to himself. "I'm sorry."

Loki nodded. "I enjoy the reading, but I come here to honor her every day. In ways I may have taken for granted when she was alive."

"Tell me about her?"

Loki tilted his chin up to give Bucky a long, unreadable look. This went on so long, Bucky was afraid he overstepped, but Loki then sat back on the sofa, placing a hand between them, close enough to touch. 

"She was a graceful woman. Kind and ruthless. She recognized that I needed to be someone's favorite, and she took on the task herself. She taught me the secrets of her magic in this very room. We spent hours here when I was a child. I wasn't very good at fencing or fighting, but excelled in learning, and she encouraged it instead of asking why I couldn't be more like Thor."

The way he said it, Bucky got the distinct impression Loki had been told repeatedly by other people to be more like Thor.

Loki reached over and touched Bucky's hair, taking a lock between his thumb and forefinger. The gesture was so shockingly intimate it took Bucky's breath away.

"I wish you had known me then," Loki said. "I was... impulsive." 

"I've known you to do some impulsive things," Bucky said with a grin.

"Outside of the bedchamber," Loki added wryly.

"Ah, well." Bucky's grin faded into a fond smile. He thought back to Steve's reaction to finding out Loki was king. He hadn't just been shocked, it had made him angry. A reward for someone he didn't think was deserving. Bucky hated the thought of feeling the same way.

"I'm glad I know you now."

Loki gazed at him, and then leaned in to kiss him. It was the briefest press of his lips to Bucky's, softly, with a light brush of his tongue to Bucky's lower lip. It was hardly their first kiss, but it was the first that gave Bucky the impression Loki wasn't completely adverse to romantic overtures.

"Will you join me tonight for dinner?" Loki asked softly, still not pulling away from Bucky completely.

Bucky touched Loki's face, a thumb running along the smooth line of his jaw. "Yes."

"And the night after?"

Bucky kissed him again. "Yes."

* * *

The snow came to Asgard, and Bucky's gardens walks were replaced with hours in the library during the daylight hours. He didn't care for reading by even the most steady of firelight, so daytime was reserved for books.

After the midday meal, which Bucky typically skipped in favor of staying the warm library (the halls generally went unheated, so traveling from one room to another was a cold event), Loki would join him.

There were days when they both read on their own, in quiet companionship, and days when Loki would forgo reading to lay his head in Bucky's lap and rest. He never talked much about the responsibilities of being king, but there were days it seemed to exhaust him. 

"Do you like being king? Bucky asked one afternoon, his left hand resting on Loki's chest. He had a book tucked into the bend of his elbow, but he couldn't focus on it. There was something about the deep sigh in Loki's breathing that kept distracting him.

Loki shrugged awkwardly. His fingers ran along the length of vibranium. Bucky couldn't feel it, but knowing Loki was touching him still send a shiver of pleasure through him.

"It's fine."

It was a long time ago now, going on five months, but Bucky recalled the Thor's words from the day he arrived in Asgard. _This is all he wanted, and now that he has it_. 

"Fine" hardly seemed like the response from someone who reached their goal.

"I did not achieve my position in the way I would have liked," Loki continued. "It was not bestowed upon me by my father, and nor did I take it by force. It was an afterthought of Thor's, cast aside for his grander pursuits."

"If it's what you wanted, why does it matter how you got it?" Bucky asked.

Loki sat up. "Pride. Respect. Have you noticed how there is minimal staff? How we have no receptions or balls? We're never invited anywhere? Everyone knows my position is perfunctory. I do what is required, and I keep Asgard at peace. My being king is little more than being a gatekeeper."

 _Loki has atoned,_ Thor had said. What if Loki was still atoning?

Bucky closed the book and set it down so he could face Loki. "Is this a punishment?"

Loki laughed humorlessly. "I truly think Thor believes he's given me what I desire, but what he has done is bind me here. The entire situation has dulled me greatly. I was once powerful and I took what I wanted. I worked and schemed and now I'm... impotent and useless."

"You're certainly not impotent," Bucky said with a smirk.

Loki rolled his eyes. "You've clever."

"And," Bucky continued, taking Loki's hand in his own, "if you were actually useless, there would be no reason for there to be a king at all. Someone has to do it. You have use."

"Filling in where Thor should be. The subjects know it, but instead of resenting him for leaving, they resent me for being here."

To his surprise, this made Bucky smile. "Is that why you put up the statues of yourself? As a fuck you?"

Loki laughed. "Yes. They're quite attractive statues."

"You're a dick." Bucky reached up and took Loki by the collar of his shirt. "I love it."

A pause fell between them, and Loki's eyes widened slightly. Bucky leaned in and kissed him before either one of them could put a lot of thought into it. The distraction worked, and when they parted, Loki appeared satiated.

Bucky leaned against him, head on Loki's shoulder. Loki's arm fit around him perfectly. "I've been thinking about how -- how long I might be here."

Loki tensed slightly. "And your conclusion?"

"My conclusion is that I'm not going to worry about it. If I'm here for another year or ten years, or more, I'm going to enjoy it. Like you said, it's a part of my life. This isn't a reprieve from it. When it's time to go back to Earth, I'll go, but for now, my place is here."

"That sounds... very wise."

Bucky tilted his face up to press a kiss to Loki's jaw. He liked the way Loki relaxed against him. "It's easy when I like being here."


End file.
